Trocheck's game built for success in Stanley Cup Playoffs, Rangers say
Center could be key to deep run in first season with New York
Is the center, with his style of play, edgy game and overall makeup as a hockey player built for the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
"For sure," Kane said without hesitation. "You can tell he is in these competitive games. Against Pittsburgh, he hit (Evgeni) Malkin, Malkin hit him, and then 'Troch' took the puck, passed it to (Chris) Kreider and Kreider scored. I know he was going at it with (Jordan) Staal in the Carolina game. He definitely seems like a playoff player to me."
Here's what Trocheck said to that exact question:
"I'm not going to sit here and say I'm built for the playoffs, or I'm built for this type of hockey. Everyone looks forward to this type of hockey."
Some handle it better than others, which is why Trocheck was OK to answer this one:
Do you feel you're typically at your best when March turns to April?
"Yeah," he said. "Every game matters, but there's just that much more emphasis on the game now. You get to the playoffs, every single shift matters. I definitely feel like I have more energy in the playoffs, more energy at this time of the year when everything counts."
The Rangers are experiencing Trocheck's energy firsthand after playing against him in the playoffs last season. As a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, Trochek scored three goals against the Rangers in the seven-game, second round series, one at even strength, one on the power play and one shorthanded. The Rangers won the series but lost in the Eastern Conference Final.
They signed the unrestricted free agent to a seven-year contract on July 13. In his first season with New York, the 29-year-old has 59 points (20 goals, 39 assists) in 76 games this season. The Rangers (44-21-11) enter their game at the Washington Capitals on Sunday (1 p.m. ET; TNT, SN360, TVAS, SN NOW), in third place in the Metropolitan Division. They have already clinched a playoff berth.
"I said that before the season that obviously he's been a tough opponent, plays the game hard and is good on face-offs," Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. "Just playing against him and seeing him, he plays hard, he's competitive and he also has the skill. I'm a lot happier to have him on our side now and excited to see what he can do with us in the playoffs."
Kane didn't know Trocheck before he came to the Rangers in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 28. Even though they're both American -- Kane from Buffalo and Trocheck from Pittsburgh -- they had never crossed paths because of their five-year difference in age.
Trocheck played for the United States in the IIHF World Junior Championship in 2013 and the IIHF World Championship in 2014. Kane was in the playoffs with the Blackhawks each season. They each played in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, but Kane was with Team USA and Trocheck was still young enough to play for Team North America, which consisted of players 23-and-under from the United States and Canada.
"I didn't realize how competitive he was," Kane said. "Like, this guy is into every play. He plays physical. He plays hard. As a winger, he's an easy guy to play with because he skates 200 feet. He's been incredible since I've been here."
Kind of like another center Kane played with for years in Chicago, Jonathan Toews.
"When you compare what they do well, yes," Kane said. " 'Tazer', in his prime, he was up and down the ice, grinding teams down. I definitely see that with Troch too."
Kane said most notable has been Trocheck's ability to win face-offs to set up a play.
"He can call out a face-off play and he will win it to that area that he's calling it for, which is kind of unheard of with what I've seen before," Kane said. "Usually you draw up a face-off play and it's like, 'OK, we'll try this but what's the reality of it actually working or setting up the play?' But he's pretty impressive with it."
Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said he values defensive zone face-offs more than those taken anywhere else on the ice. Trocheck has won 58 percent of his face-offs in the defensive zone, seventh in the NHL among players who have taken at least 300 defensive zone draws.
"It's the little things too, like how well he holds onto pucks," Zibanejad said. "He's not coming full speed at you in the neutral zone but he somehow finds a way of transporting the puck into the offensive zone and then he's able to set it up. I think a lot of times players like that come in and you have expectations, but it's the little things that you notice. I've definitely done that with him."
It hasn't been smooth sailing for Trocheck. The adjustment to a new team wasn't easy, most notably trying to establish chemistry with forward Artemi Panarin, who was playing on his left wing for most of the season until the Rangers got Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko and had more options in their top-six forward group.
Kane and Chris Kreider have played with Trocheck for the past few weeks.
"It's been tough and a little bit of a roller coaster," Trocheck said. "Getting to the point where I am now and how I feel playing on this team, the chemistry I've built, playing a system I know now, the way it's gone is how it needed to go. I needed to go through those bumps."
Said Gallant, "Carolina is a real good team that plays a strong system, man on man, forcing the puck all over the ice, so Troch was more of man on man in the 'D' zone and chasing it to the corners. We have a different system and it took him a while to adjust. But the last 15 or so games I've been real happy with him and the adjustment he's made. I think he's found his game. He's playing exactly the way we want him to play and he's happy."
At just the right time.
"This is my favorite time of the year," Trocheck said. "This is the time you get to play for what everybody's been dreaming about since they were a kid."
